Fastening device



May 23 1939y i '6. A. TINNERMAN I 2,159,573

. FASTENING DEVICE Filed July 371, y193.6

' INVENTOR. B GEORGE f7. 77NNRMA- ATToRyys Paten-fed May 23, 1939 UNITEDSTATES PATE-NT OFFICE signor to Albert H.

Ohio

Tinnerman, Cleveland.

Application July 31, i936, serial No. sacra 6 Claims."

' 4 This invention relates to fastening devices and particularly to adevice for holding a nut rmly in position for receiving a threadedbolt'. There are many instances, especially in blind locations,

- where a standard nut is desired, but where the operator either cannothold it in place while the boltis being inserted, vor cannot thereafterhold it against rotation during the final tightening operation. j

An eiiort'has' been-made to retain a nuttin bolt receiving position bywelding it to one of lthe parts, but such method is not only expensive,but is objectionable in that the nut cannot be moved aslight distance tocompensate for-misalignment of the openings in the two parts that aretizibe connected together.

object of the present invention is to make a fastener which can bereadily attached to one of the parts to be Joinedand-which will be soformed that it will hold the nut rmly in bolt receiving position. Theattachment mayv take any one of several different forms, butv in eachcase it comprises a clip vwhich is frictionally held by A l spring?tension onto one of the parts, and in each case, .has provision thereonfor holding a nut against rotation.

tive views of different forms which the fastening device may have, whileFigs. vertical sections taken throug the devices shown in Figs. 1 to 4,respectively, each fastener being shown in the latterjgroup inconnection with a `bolt nut and two parts'to be joined together.A

Each of the fasteners which are illustrated in 35 Figs. 1, 2l and3,coinprises a clip that is formed owhlch is indicated, for example, atI2. The clip is so formed that the arms must be spread apart -slightlyto admit the article I2, wherefore thevr normal tendency of the arms toapproach each other will hold the fastenerby spring tension '45" uponthe article. Qne, of 'the arms of veach clip, tn-:preferably the upperarm, hasfprovision thereon ,for yieldably holding a'standard nutindicated at .JIn Fig. 1, the nut retaining means comprises achannel-shaped holder, which is formed from thexa'rm II and which hasvertical walls I6 and IT, and a connecting web I8. A 'I'he channel opensdownwardly and has a bolt receiving opening I9. ythe diameter of'whichis larger than the outside diameter of the bolt thread so as to clear itwhen In the drawing, Figs. 1, 2,"3 and 4 'are perspec- 6,'7 and 8, `are'(ci. .as-az). l

lthe bolt is. inserted in the normal way. Similarly,

the bottom layer` I has a bolt receiving opening in registration withthe opening I9, and `of article, then the clip is sov made that theshoulder 22, which is formed at the junction of the arms I0 and I I,engages the marginal edge of the piece at the time the openingsjl and 20are in registration with the opening` 2|. Where the opening 2I, however,is not close to a marginal edge, then a slot '23 is made in the article,through which the arm I0 may be inserted, after the nut I5 has firstbeen positioned between the walls of the channel shaped retainer. Itwill be understood that the slot 22 is spaced sufiiciently far from theopening 2l to cause substantial alignment between the axis of theopening in the nut, and that ofthe lopening 2I when the bent portion 22of the clip is positioned within the slot. It is also to be understoodthat the slot is sufnciently wide to. allowa slight adjustment of thenut to compensate for any misalignment that may occur'in productionbetween the opening I2 and the opening 25 in the part 2l.

'I'he fastener, whichfis shown in Fig. 2, is somewhat similar to thatshown in Fig. 1, except for the fact that the retaining means for thenut comprises two upstanding walls and Il, each of which has an inturnedflange 32. The wall 30 may be bent upwardly from the end of the arm II,while the wall II may be bent upwardly fromI the-body portion of. thearmvl I, the distance between the walls being slightly less than thewidth of the nut, whereby'the' mit will be held therein by springtension. In this illustration the arm `I I has a bolt receiving openingI8 in registration with1 the corresponding opening 2li in the arm III. 4In the modification of Fig. 3, the free end of the arm II isbifurcated,and the nut has slots on its opposing faces into which the forked endsof the arm II extend. The slots and forked ends of the arm I I have asnug interiltting relationship by means of which the nut is held byspring tension in bolt receiving position. In this moditlcation thelower arm I0 has a boit receiving `opening1 2liV in alignment with theopening in the nut.

In Fig. 4- I have shown a further modincation in which the fastener ismade of a strip of wire that is bentl upon itself to provide a lower armIt and an upper arm Il. The-free end of the upper arm is bent around thenut and is fitted into notches III on the vertical edges of the nut.

Similarly thelower arm is bent to provide abolt receiving opening and toassure a fiat bearing surface against the under side of the article towhich it is attached. It is to be understood that the fastener of FigAis so formed that .the nut encircling portion 4I yits smaller than thenut. Consequently, the encircling Yportion must be opened slightly toadmit the nut,vafter which the spring tension-in the wire holds the nutfirmly in place.

From the foregoing description, itwill be apparent that I have devised afastener that can be economically made and that will operate in asatisfactory manner to position a standard nut in place for receiving athreaded bolt. It .will also be apparent that the fastener not onlyholds thel nut in bolt receiving position, but also holds it againstrotation during the tightening operation.

I claim: 1. Means -for holding a nut in bolt-receiving position upon apart to be joined, comprising a i metallic clip having two arms adaptedto be dis posed on opposite sides of the part to be joined,

one of the arms having walls extending out of the plane thereof forcontacting and holding a nut with the axis of the nut extendingtransversely to the arm, and the other arm having a boltreceivingopening in registration withthe open- 'ing in the nut.

l 2. Means for holding a lnut in bolt-receiving position comprising ailexible clip having two arms adapted to be` disposed on opposite sidesof the part to be joined, one of the arms having a pair of wallsintegral therewith and extending transversely of the arm and out of theplane thereof for contacting the-opposite faces of a nut, and forholding it solely by spring tension in bolt-receiving position.

3. A device of the Yclass described, comprising a U-shaped clip, one armof the U having two walls struck upwardly therefrom and each wall havingan inturned iiange, the-walls being adapted to engage and hold a nut inbolt-receiving position on theclip.

4. A nut holder, comprising a. U-shaped metallic clip, one arm of theclip having means there- .on for engaging and holding a nut by springtension, and the other arm of the clip being bent backwardly upon thefirst-namedsarm to contact an article and to be held thereon solely byspring tension of themetal of which theclip is made. r

5. A nut holder, comprising a clip having two arms adapted to bedisposed on opposite sides of an article, one of the arms having adownwardly -iacing channel-shaped portion formed integral- -ly therewithfor receiving and holding a nut therein. y l` V 6; A nut holdercomprising a, U-shaped metaliic `clip having a bolt receiving openingthereinv 4 and having a pair of ears formed integrally. therewith anddisposed on opposite sides of the opening, said ears extendingsubstantially parallel to 'each other and. being adapted to tengagethe-op-

